This invention relates generally to rotary blades, and more particularly, to a rotor blade trailing edge assembly and method of use.
Generally, a wind turbine generator includes a rotor having multiple blades. The rotor is sometimes mounted within a housing, or nacelle, that is positioned on top of a base, for example a truss or tubular tower. At least some known utility grade wind turbines (i.e., wind turbines designed to provide electrical power to a utility grid) can have rotor blades of 30 meters (m) (100 feet (ft)) or more in length.
Known rotor blades are generally difficult and time consuming to manufacture. They are generally manufactured from two molded fiberglass shells fitted together to define a blade cross section having a leading edge and a trailing edge. However, due to the poor structural characteristics of fiberglass, when the shells are fitted together the trailing edge usually requires additional finishing for defining a finished trailing edge width. Using contemporary techniques, known fiberglass trailing edges generally cannot be finished to less than two-and-a-half millimeters. The trailing edge is generally the weakest region of a rotor blade and its width may also contribute to noise generated by the rotor blades during wind turbine operation.
Because of their size and/or fragility, some known large rotor blades may be damaged during transportation. For example, the trailing edge of some known rotor blades may be damaged during loading and/or unloading into and/or unloading from at least some known transportation containers, or during installation. Additionally, because rotor blades are much longer than wide, rotor blades are susceptible to buckling during operation as well as during transportation and installation.